


Got My Mind Set On You

by BubuBORG



Series: Team Medi: Medic Craft 9 [2]
Category: SilverHawks, Star Trek, TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Gen, Shapeshifting, Team Medi Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 20:02:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17731724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubuBORG/pseuds/BubuBORG
Summary: Arriving in Limbo, the MC9 team must restore an aging hospital ship to working order.  What they don't know is that Mo-Lec-U-Lar is working against them.





	Got My Mind Set On You

Mon*Star sat before the one who he had summoned before him.One of the most elite of the people that he had summoned to him.However, he was unable to turn him to his aid like the others.

MoLecULar had to be persuaded.

“You summoned me,” Mo said, his voice a curious monotone.He didn’t seem to have a form, his body melding from one pose to the next, as opposed to actual flexing of muscles and tendons and bone.

“They are coming today,” Mon*Star told him. “You know what you have to do.”

“They have much to accomplish,” Mo said.“You can count on me to gum up their works.”

 

 

 

Simor’s and Zik’s house ship arrived in orbit of Bed-Lama less than a week after it departed from Earth. The six passengers had slept in two cramped, yet comfortable guest cabins.Buffi and Joy had their own room, and the two coexisted quietly, but amiably.Adam, Josh, and the Khâzad brothers, Fíli and Kíli, slept in the other room.The dwarves slept in one cot, sleeping the way they had all their lives: Head to head, mirror images of the other.Adam thought it was oddly touching, how the two old men still retained a vestige of their boyhood.Though, to retain their waking dignity, he kept the thought to himself.The six saw very little of Sìmor and Zik on the way, the two preferring not to distract themselves from ferrying their passengers to Limbo.And after their initial encounter with Zik and his fish, that was perhaps for the best. 

 

Buffi looked into the viewscreen as Hawk Haven came into view over the limb of Bed-Lama.“Interesting design.How is it that a species that comes from mollusk stock has so many bird references?”

“That’s the Númenórean influence,” Adam explained. 

“Oh,” Buffi said.“And the design’s very...art deco.”

The station was that of a sculpted raptor bird, perched upon a rocky planetoid, with the hangar bay constructed just underneath, and below the planetoid, a older-design sensor dish dangled. 

“That is just amazing,” Adam sighed, a rapturous look in his eyes.“The design is definitely pre- Elendil.Hey Josh!”

Josh took his face out of a bowl of chips to face Adam.“Yeah?”

“Look at the station for a moment, and tell me what you think?”

Josh looked into the screen, but before he did, Kíli spoke out.“The design suggests a preference for basic geometry.Not as frivolous as the old towers on Arda.”

“Well, Kíli, I was going to suggest that it reminded me of the Argonath with its use of large scale and majesty,” Adam countered.“And that tradition does carry forth in the towers, like Minas Tirith and Cair Andros and so forth.”

“Hmm,” Kíli murmured.“Gandalf was right.You really know your stuff.”

“He should,” Buffi remarked.“The man’s a genius.”

“Ms. K’gar, I keep telling you, I am _not_ a genius.”Adam noticed that she had the most annoying habit of referring to him as the ‘genius’ of their group and Joshua as the ‘mutant’. 

“But I am a mutant,” Josh spoke up.“But fear not, I’m in excellent company.”

“How’s that?” Buffi asked, absently looking at her nails.

“It just so happens that my old classmate Tony’s assigned to the Haven,” Josh explained.

“The telekinetic?” Adam asked.

“Yep.We have a lot to catch up on.He’s going to want to hear about Professor--”

“Yeah,” Adam said, overlapping him, obliterating any mention of Grimalon Suder, who also happened to have murdered Adam’s grandmother.Buffi looked on with mild interest.

Zik came out, careful not to make extended eye contact with the Cainian.“Sìmor sent me out to tell you we are docking with the Hawk Haven.Captain Stargazer’s ready to see you and you’re to disembark right away.”

“Thank you, Mr. Zik,” Adam said, smiling at the Bik.“We’ll be out of your hair in fifteen minutes.”

Zik nodded and turned to exit the cabin when he hesitated, and turned around.“Oh, one more thing?”

“Yes?” Adam asked, on his way to the sleeping cabin.

“Are you sure anyone doesn’t want a fish?”

 

 

After disembarking (And the purchase of a fish, after it was ripped in half by Buffi), The six found themselves on the landing bay of Hawk Haven. The mission seal of Hawk Haven and the SilverHawks was emblazoned on the back wall, and next to it were doors that led to the turbolift shaft.From that door, Commander Jonathan Quick walked out to them.

“Commander Reid,” Quick said in greeting.“We meet again.”

“Thank you,” Adam said.“Captain Stargazer wants to see us?”

“This way,” Quick beckoned back to the turbo, and they all walked in.It was cramped, but brief.When it opened into the Haven’s Operations center, they found it manned by two other officers: Will and Emily Hart, twin siblings who seemed to run the station themselves and keep it up with almost limitless energy. 

“SteelHart, SteelWill, this is the Medicraft team,” Quick said in passing.

Will Hart recognized Joshua right away and moved to shake his hand.“Good to see you again, Lieutenant Commander,” he said.“Tony’s said some good things about you.”

“Lies.All lies,” Josh joked as they were jostled into a narrow corridor which ended in a rather curious door.Unlike the rest of the station, which was sufficiently modern, the door was on an old-fashioned hinge, and, on the frosted-glass window, bold letters spelled out B. VINCENT STARGAZER, COMMANDING OFFICER.

“The captain’s waiting for you,” Quick, standing behind the group, said as he turned around and left them.

“Come on in, guys,” a gruff voice beckoned, as if in agreement with Quick, and Adam opened the door.

The office was just about as old-fashioned as the door, and no one was immune from rubbernecking as they filed in.Kíli took note of the fine square lines of the stained oak desk, which contained a computerized desk blotter and several PADDs and other devices which he could not immediately identify. Fíli and Adam noticed that the room was positively covered in bookshelves.Close to the door was a pitcher of water and on the other side was a coat hanger which contained a vintage fedora and trenchcoat. 

The chair swiveled around to reveal a man who was not quite elderly, but seemingly no longer middle-aged.His head was shaved bald, symmetrical save for the bionic eye on his left-hand side.He stood up“Well, there you all are.Let me see if I got your names down.” He turned to Adam and asked, “Commander Reid?”

“Yes?” Adam and Josh said, simultaneously.

“Oh, Jesus,” Stargazer cursed.“Not another set of siblings, or relatives, or whatever the hell you two are,” he said, completely sidestepping the clarification of how the two Reids were related to each other.“Adam?”

“Yes.” Adam replied.

“You’re the one with the armor,” Stargazer said.“The prototype that Gandalf gave you.”

“That’s right,” Adam said, crisply.

“Well, Commander, by rights, that would put you under my jurisdiction, but Gandalf has other plans for you, so there you are.”He turned to Josh.“Joshua Maurice Reid-Lebeau?”

“Yes, sir,” Josh replied.“Though I only use about half of that name there.”

“I can see why; it’s a mouthful,” Stargazer remarked.“You’re the SAGR grad, same as Hotwing.You can manifest a biogenic power field that propels you and protects you from most kinds of harm in space.”

Josh nodded.

“Now, you, my dear, I don’t know too well because Gandalf invited you at the last moment,” Stargazer said, turning his attention to Joy.“But your transcript and profile is quite promising.You wish to be a planet-based engineer, yes?”

“Yeah,” Joy replied.

“You’d agree, then, that’s it’s rather irregular for you to cut your teeth on an old jalopy like MC9, yes?”

“All true,” Joy conceded, “But like they say, ‘any port in a storm’...”

Stargazer chuckled and nodded.“Too true.And your mentor here,” He turned to Kíli.“Is one of the best engineers at Utopia Planitia.You were last working on the ASDB board, yes?”

“I was,” Kíli said.“My last project was the Nebula-class team, and was tentatively working on the newest long-range shuttle project.”

“Which you dropped to come to Limbo,” Stargazer noted.“Not exactly upwardly mobile, would you agree?”

“I was happy to do a favor for Gandalf,” Kíli replied, and crossed his arms.Though he was outranked by Stargazer, his seniority was enough for the captain to say no more.

“That goes for me, also, Captain,” Fíli piped up.“Let me save you the bother of recalling: I hold a board position at Starfleet Medical concerning medical research.I specialize in xenobiology and emergency medicine.You might be familiar with the Fíli technique in pulmonary microsurgery,” then said, off Stargazer’s blank, slightly amused look, “Or maybe not.”

“Very good,” Stargazer said, then turned to the Cainian officer in the back.“And then there’s Ms. Buffi K’gar.”

“Sir,” Buffi said, simply.

“For someone two years out of the Academy, you’ve got yourself quite a rip-roaring file,” Stargazer noted with barely-veiled amusement.“While Captain Maxwell has given you several positive reviews, there are also more than one official reprimand regarding excessive force and insubordination.The two combined seems to smack of damning praise, wouldn’t you say?”

“I prefer to think of it as learning as I go,” Buffi replied. 

“Only time will tell, eh?” Stargazer muttered, as if not entirely sure of his own statement.“Well.You’re the Medic Craft team.Your first mission in Limbo is to renovate your ship, designated Medic Craft 9, and get it ready to fly within the month.Any questions?”

“What kind of ship are we talking here?” Joy asked.

Stargazer pressed a button on the top of his desk. causing one of the bookshelves to reveal a view screen.A computer schematic of a vaguely spherical-looking ship appeared, with a long neck to the control room in front, and squarish-looking nacelles connected by two wing-like struts on either side.A anachronistic stabilizing fin rose from the top.

“Salk-class; a hundred thirty-five years old,” Kíli said.“Your basic hospital ship.About two or three wards, including intensive care unit with its own backup generator, and three research labs. When it was commissioned, it was state of the art.Not much in the way of weaponry, though.”

“Weaponry is going to be secondary to your mission,” Stargazer said.“Your angle to solving the Limbo problem, as you know, will be subterfuge.Undercover work.Sting operations.MC9 is going to be your primary cover.Congratulations, you’re all paramedics now.”

“We all completed the field medicine training,” Adam said.“Josh had prior certifications in emergency first aid and medical assistance.”

“No complaints there,” Fíli said.“I checked them all out myself.We’re ready with that part of the mission.

“Good.Now, here’s the fun part.” Stargazer took a padd and brought up several images as he spoke.“This minor planet is Brim*Star,” He narrated.“Within the star-shaped crater is Mon*Star’s palace, and that’s his base of operations.Heavily guarded, heavily armed, and harder than hell to fight your way out of.That’s also where he transforms,using that damned Moonstar that Brim*Star orbits.You’ve read up on the Moonstar, Adam?” Stargazer asked.

“Yes, sir,” Adam replied. 

“Not to jump the gun,” Buffi asked, “But who are we up against?The grunts and soldiers in his little army.”

“Right to the point, eh, K’gar?” Stargazer said.“Well, the report I’m going to be sending you’s going to be more detailed, but lemme break it down to you.”He brought up a picture of a squat, rather reptilian looking alien with wide nostrils and red hair which bushed up at the ends.“This is Ruka Vinata, who goes by the name of Hardware.That sums him up.He’s their engineer, weaponeer, and inventor.”

“My opponent,” Kíli said, with relish.

“Windhammer,” Stargazer continued, “Who can control several kinds of weather, including ion storms in space.He’s from Rutaä, and Intel believes him to be the Kumala of their world; their messiah.”

“Fallen from grace, it seems,” Josh remarked.“Mutant power?”

“We think,” Stargazer replied, then changed the image to reveal a bovine alien, seemingly clad in his own version of orange-red body armor.“Mumbo-Jumbo, their strong-arm.Minoan is notoriously hard on the Universal translator, and his poor temper doesn’t help.”

“Is he fitted with SilverHawk technology?” Adam asked.

“Some kind of bastardized version of it,” Stargazer sighed.“Now their female.Melodia.Also known as Melanie Van Gru, for you music fans.She uses SoundSmasher technology in her keyboard, and that has shattering results.”

“Hello, girlfriend,” Buffi said, as she cracked her knuckles.

“There’s more, and it’s all in your briefing,” Stargazer said.“Now, I suggest you get yourselves to the drydock in orbit of Automata, about a light-year away from here.Your shuttle’s in the lot, number five.”

“I’ll get it prepped and ready,” Buffi said.

“Go ahead,” Adam said, prompting her to exit.“Fíli, Kíli, Joy?I’d like the three of you to let Josh and I speak privately with Captain Stargazer.”

They gave silent acknowledgement as they left as well.Now Stargazer was alone with the two Reids.He started with surprise at Adam’s blue eagle-eyes as he took off his aviator’s shades and stuck him with a look.“There are things we still need to know.”

“Like why the SilverHawks haven’t been able to take down Mon*Star in the five years they’ve been deployed here in Limbo,” Josh said.

Stargazer pursed his lips, seemingly teetering on the edge of anger, but at the last moment, conceded and sighed.“We’re deadlocked,” he admitted.“Mon*Star’s got talented people working for him.He uses them like human shields; even if we capture one, it’s usually so that he can get away.”

“Is that why we’re here?” Adam asked.“To be the devil Mon*Star doesn’t know?”

“Interesting choice of words,” Stargazer muttered, “But you’re essentially correct.”

“Why us?” Josh asked.“Gandalf picked us, but you approved.”

“Because I have level ten security clearance,” Stargazer replied, moving in closer to them.“Because that gives me access to your mostly-classified Arda mission a couple of years back.You’re one of the few people in Starfleet with knowledge of Omega, knowledge of the Númenóreans, and of the Istari, which is what our revered Admiral is.”

“Omega--okay,” Adam conceded, “But what does the Istari have to do with Mon*Star?”

“Because we have evidence that Mon*Star is a rogue Istari,” Stargazer replied.You know what Gandalf is sometimes capable of.Lieutenant Reid was there when he stripped another Istari, Saruman, of his powers.Before Mon*Star was in residence in Limbo, his palace was the home of another alleged Istari: Gomphor the Orange, of the same order as Saruman and Gandalf.Get the picture yet?”

Adam and Josh looked at each other.Adam turned to Stargazer and said.“I think we do.“We’ll get started on the ship, and be up and running for our first mission within the month.”

“Very good, fellas.Dismissed.”

 

Outside the office, the two dwarves glanced at the door, then back to each other.

“Well, what do you think?” Fili asked. 

Kili glanced back at the door.“Adam is clearly related to Kait,” he remarked.“Joy as well.I’m excited to see what she’s got to offer.”Joy, upon hearing her name, perked up and grinned.

Fili nodded, and smiled over at Joy.“They’re Thom’s kids for sure as well.What about Josh?You’re the one that worked with his grandpa.”

Kili grinned.“He’s a lot more rambunctious than Maurice,” he said.“I suspect he made more than a slight impression in Middle-earth.”

“And then there’s the _Diablador_ ,” Fili quipped.“Must be the K’gar genes because she’s _nothing_ like Rott,” referring to her grandfather, Captain Rott Ag’ta.

 

 

Moving at a brisk pace back to the landing bay, Adam and Joshua threatened to leave the dwarves and Joy behind.Adam, especially, was anxious to get started.

At the landing bay, Joy and Kíli walked up behind her brother, anxious to look over their shoulder where their shuttle surely awaited.She looked around them.

No shuttle.

“Where is she?” Kíli asked, as Fíli walked behind his brother, slightly short of breath.

As he did, a red streak entered the landing bay. Joshua’s first instinct was to defend himself, as their enemy had found them ahead of schedule.Adam, however, simply shook his head as the vessel slowed down, revealing a sleek, sporty shuttle, with sexy curves and painted red, a white racing stripe running down the side, turned at an angle towards the rear, forming its own check-mark of approval.It turned slightly, seeming to skid above the grav plates as it slowed and lowered to land.

“Oh, brother,” Adam muttered.

“A bit of a frivolous design for a space station,” Kíli commented.“A beauty of a vessel, though.”

The hatch opened, revealing a beatific Buffi. “Isn’t it gorgeous?” she gushed as she leaned into the hatch

“Ms. K’gar, this isn’t our assigned shuttle,” Adam said, somewhat disapprovingly.

“No, it’s not,” Buffi said, “It’s a confiscated vehicle.But you have to admit, Commander, It might come in handy for one of our missions.”

“Your sense of incentive is noted, Lieutenant, but next time, tell first, then do,” Adam suggested.“As it is, the shuttle is here and prepped for launch...”

“Yes!” Buffi exulted, and climbed back in, as the rest piled into the shuttle.Joy, the last to enter, found it slightly cramped, but squeezed in between the dwarves without complaint.

“How far to the docks?” She asked.

“About a half-hour at cruising speed,” Buffi replied.

“Signal the Haven, Lieutenant K’gar, and prepare to launch,” Adam said.

 

 

Once again, the trip was uneventful, which seemed strangely suspicious to Josh.“We’re new in town,” he told Adam.“No reception, no welcome, good or bad.I don’t like it.”

“Can’t do anything about it until they make their move,” Adam replied with a shrug.“And here we are.”

When Joshua saw the ship out the windows of the shuttle, his heart nearly dropped to his feet.“Aw, no,” he groaned.“No, no.”

Stargazer didn’t lie about MC9.It was, indeed, a jalopy.

The ship hung in space, battered by time and abuse.It barely resembled the ship whose schematic they saw in Stargazer’s office.Hull plates were missing, revealing skeletal struts and decompressed room areas.

“That ship’s not spaceworthy!” Josh exclaimed, dismay creeping into hisvoice. 

“No, it’s not,” Adam conceded.“But we have a month to get it done.”

 

“Aw, snot!” Joy exclaimed.“We’re gonna need EVA suits, aren’t we?”

“Well, some of us will,” Adam said, nodding.“We have to make sure there’s at least some area that will hold atmosphere.”

They docked into the drydock itself, where their belongings had already been delivered by Sìmor and Zik.The structure of the dock was tenuous yet sound, and housed sleeping and living areas for the team to use until they could safely live in the ship.

“Oh, thank god!” Joy exclaimed.“I was worried I’d have to live in an EVA suit 24/7 or something!”

“What, are you claustrophobic?” Buffi asked.

“Let’s just say that one size does _not_ fit all,” Joy replied.

One by one, they gathered their belongings and moved themselves into their cabins, with the same sleeping arrangement as on Símor’s transport. 

 

As their doors closed,a deckplate began to shudder as a _thing_ \--a strange tendril of amber cytoplasm--emerged.From the end of the alien tendril a dark eye--black and shiny, an eye of pure pupil--blinked.

 

After another night of sleeping under campout-like conditions, Adam woke first, and early--his chronometer read 0450 hours.He rummaged through his travel bag and pulled out a oblate, smooth pewter device.He smiled as he placed it onto his abdomen and walked through the narrow corridors to the airlock door. 

“ARMOR UP!” He exclaimed, which triggered the device to expand over his body, becoming seamless, heavily armed body armor, impervious to most harm and the vacuum of space.Technology from the ancient Númenórean civilization.

“Commander?” a voice said from behind, causing Adam to start, which was rare considering his faint traces of Betazoid telepathy.He was normally able to sense the presence of someone long before he was able to sneak behind him.

It was Fíli.

“What are you doing up so early?” he asked Adam.

“I wanted to do the initial walkthrough,” Adam explained .“With my armor, it’ll be easier to do, than having to be encumbered with you folks and your EVA suits--no offense.”

“Oh, none taken,” Fíli said.“I’ll just crawl back into my cot.I like to sleep in, myself.”

“Very well, for as long as you can.But don’t forget, we’ll be receiving our first batch of medical supplies for the hospital wards, and you’ll be needed to inventory them.”Adam turned back toward the doors.“See you in a little while.”

 

Adam walked through the airless corridors of Medic Craft 9, looking for the nearest access panel.Soon enough, he found it, and looked for any indications of power conduit.He found it, and soon made his way towards the engineering decks, where he found a rather underwhelming warp core and surrounding devices.However, from there, he activated a panel and worked to cold-start auxiliary power.The lights flickered to dim life soon after, and Adam found a ship that was painted in sterile white colors, with light blue accents and metal railing.He activated the ship’s computer, ancient by most standards, still using duotronics in many of its systems despite several upgrades in its history.Its damage control systems reported that almost twenty percent of the ship was unable to hold atmosphere, and the force fields in those areas were suspect at best.While the main impulse engines were sound, the warp drive needed much work in order to operate safely.He jotted down notes so that he could assign work duties to the team.Kíli and Joy would want to get first crack at the warp core--or _would_ Joy?Adam had to continually remind himself that her specialties would not run in the realm of propulsion, but rather construction--due to her being trained as a land-based engineer.Most land power generators were fusion based--antimatter reaction power generators were deemed overkill and rather precarious--so she would be more in tune with ensuring the impulse engines’s worthiness.

It was as he jotted down another note when something moved.

It was on the very edge of his peripheral vision, but he was sure that he saw something--something not inanimate, but definitely alive--in the ship, moving about.With great speed.However, he couldn’t sense any presence around.Perhaps, he rationalized, it was some sort of space pest.Cardassian vole or something. He shrugged it off and made his way to return to the airlock.

 

When Adam returned to the drydock living area,he found his team in various degrees of breakfast and individual morning rituals.Josh was in one corner, doing his tai chi, while Buffi set up her sparring pillar, and proceeded to pummel it.Fíli and Kíli were chatting up Joy, who had managed to whip up a cup of coffee, and blearily smiled as they talked to her.

“I see the rest of you are up,” Adam said, chirpily. 

“Well, there you are,” Josh said.“Why didn’t you say you were gonna scout ahead?”

“The good doctor knew,” Adam protested.“Fíli, why didn’t you tell them I was up?”

“How would I have known?” Fíli protested.“Honestly.”

“You were up!” Adam said, incredulously.“Are you prone to sleepwalking?”

“He certainly is not,” Kíli said.“He’s a very sound sleeper.”

Adam realized that continuing the argument was probably fruitless, so he dropped it.“So, Stinkerbell,” he said to his sister, “Whatever are these two talking your ears off over?”

“Well, this one,” she said, indicating Fíli, still smarting over the accusation of being a sleepwalker, “Was telling me about his childhood in the Iron Hills on Arda, and the other one, my new boss,” She pointed to Kíli, “Was telling me about Grampa Hector.”

“You knew Hector Reid?” Adam said with surprise.

“Well, it was very long ago,” Kíli dismissed.“Back when he was a junior officer on the _Excelsior_.”

“Were you on the _Excelsior_ , Kíli?” Josh asked.“Under Captain Sulu?”

“I was,” Kíli said.“I came on after the Khitomer Conference, and I was the chief engineer.What’s on our plates today?”

Adam had to switch gears as Kíli changed the subject.“Well, auxiliary is online, and I want us to go through the outer hull fractures one by one and also see if the ship’s retrofitted for emergency forcefields.”

“According to Stargazer, the ship was last refit around stardate 21489.I know from experience that they were put into use in starship design in the late twenty-third century, and retrofit into earlier model ships not much later.That included Salk-class ships.”

“Excellent.You and I will start on that.Josh?”

“Yo!” Josh exclaimed from the corner.

“I need you to get to the main control area with Ms. K’gar and investigate our other vital systems: communications, defenses, weaponry if possible.”

Buffi stopped her workout and added, “We’re going to need an above-normal communications array for encrypt and decrypt functions for our covert missions.Also, Commander, we’re going to have to seed several--”

“Our first priority is our ship, Lieutenant.Jot your thoughts down as they come and send me your proposals after we finish.”

“Yes, sir,” Buffi said with a sigh and continued with her punches and kicks

“That just leaves me and the doctor,” Joy said.

“I want you to accompany Dr. Fíli to the medical wards to inventory his equipment.I also want you to check the viability of the backup generators of his ICU ward.”

Joy nodded.“I know fusion generators like the back of my hand.”

“Then this will be an education, this one is probably fifty years old.Oh, and guys?”

“Yeah?” Josh said, toweling off.

“I think there might be some sort of leftover pet or pest or something over there, so be on the lookout.I don’t want you to kill it; like I said, it might be domesticated.”

“Ooh, goody,” Buffi said, “A mascot,” and walked back into the ladies’ bedroom.

“That’s the spirit,” Adam called back.

 

Where no one could hear, someone giggled.

 

The first week seemed to go quickly enough, but it seemed that the entire team was more frazzled than any of them could account for.While the entire ship had atmosphere within that week, it took twice as long as it should have, for the simple fact that nobody could keep track of their own tools.They just simply became...misplaced.Buffi seemed to have the most luck with her objectives.However, she continued to sniff the air, becoming more and more apprehensive, even as Joy became more and more exasperated. 

“Yesterday, I couldn’t find my hyperspanner for, like a whole hour,” Joy said to Josh, upset to the point of tears.“I’m really convinced that I’ve got Space Fever or something.I don’t lose my tools; that’s like one of the Ten Engineers’ Commandments.”

Josh stopped and grabbed Joy’s shoulder.“Come on, now, chere,” he said.“Even if that was true back on earth, nobody would hold it against you for being...you know...a bit out of it out here.You’re not in your element; you said so yourself.”

“You don’t believe me!” Joy exclaimed with dismay.“You think I’m going crazy!”

“Joy, I didn’t--”

“You listen here, Josh M!I’ve just as much a right to be here as any one of you!I’ve earned the right to work on this team!” she cried, and stormed away.

When Josh sighed and turned the other way,. he was startled by the sudden appearance of Adam behind him.He started and put a finger to his temple.

 

Being startled from behind seemed to be happening a lot as well.

 

“She’s awfully upset,” He said, a strangely distant look in his eyes.

“Well, she’s not Starfleet,” Josh said, shaking his head.“She’s got a lot to get adjusted to.”

“What about you, Lieutenant?” Adam asked.“How do you feel?”

Josh started to reply, but stopped for a second, and frowned.“Um...fine...funny you should ask.”

“How’s that?” Adam asked.

“Oh, that’s okay...never mind.”Josh said, and walked away, looking behind his shoulder toward Adam before he turned a corner.

Buffi walked up behind Adam.“Hey, boss,” she said, and then sniffed the air.“How...sniff...are you...today?”

“Fine, Lieutenant,” Adam replied, reacting to her now-vigorous sniffing with more amusement than alarm.“Something bothering your nose?”

Buffi glared at Adam.“My sense of smell’s much more sensitive than yours, sir,” she replied.“And something’s been...off...ever since we arrived here.”

“Maybe it’s our little pest in the Jeffries tubes, Ms. K’gar,” Adam said with a smile.“Maybe it’s putting your sense of smell off its game.”

“Perhaps,” Buffi said, starting to walk away.“I’ll, uh, I’ll keep you posted.”

With that, she walked away, with Adam watching after her.

“Bye now,” He said, quietly.

 

 

Kíli had ripped the heart out of the ship’s warp core: The dilithium crystal articulation frame.The crystal was passable, but Kíli would have to subject it to low-level gamma radiation to ensure that any decrystallization would be curtailed.He put it aside so that he could peer into the warp core to make sure that the intermix chamber was sound.Sure enough, it was, though the warp core was significantly less sophisticated than what he had designed himself. 

“Need a little help?” a female voice asked.

Kíli jumped a foot in surprise.“Gah!By Aule, my dear, you did give me a start!” 

“You seem knee-deep in something,” Joy said, a cheerful smile upon her face.“Need helping?”

Kíli looked at her warily.“Your brother told me that your forte would be in fusion generators, not warp cores.”

Joy’s face went blank for a moment, and her lids went low, for a fraction of a second.“Well, there’s a first time for everything, isn’t there?”

Kíli chuckled, and nodded.“So there is.So there is.Why don’t you run this micro-scanner over this crystal for me, won’t you?”

Joy did so, keeping her eye on the Khâzad dwarf as she scanned the dilithium.“So, Mr. Kíli, tell me again about my grandfather.”

“Hector?He was quite the character,” Kíli said.“He was always trying to score a date with all of the young yeoman girls.He was very good at his job as the gamma-shift comm officer--Janice Rand was very complimentary.”

“Oh!” Joy exclaimed.“I’m so sorry, I...I slipped.”

The crystal had fallen to the floor. While the crystal itself was largely unharmed, the articulation frame seemed to have been damaged.Kíli sighed.

“Well, look at that.”He looked at Joy, who seemed to be totally mortified.Although it didn’t seem to reach all the way to her eyes, which continued to look at Kíli.“That’s going to be another couple of days of work.”

“I’m sorry--It was an accident, really--”

“I understand, I understand, my dear,” Kíli sighed again.Age and experience had taught him experience, especially with rookie engineers.“But I’m sure you’ll understand when I ask you to let me correct this on my own--and go bother my brother for awhile.”

 

 

The chief medical officer’s office still looked like it was turned upside down with various empty vials, gauze, and other empty canisters.Fíli couldn’t find any sense of organization.Nothing seemed to stay still.He rested his head on the desk.

 

“You look like a fellow in crisis.”

“You are the dark mistress of death, come to put me out of my misery?” Fíli’s voice filtered from behind his fingers.

Kíli looked at Fíli, a curious look in his eyes.“Perhaps I could help you organize this a bit?”

“Help me?Organize?”

“It’s a bit, ah, messy?”

Fíli frowned. “You never want to help me organize.”

Kíli’s jaw went slightly slack, then blinked a few times.“There’s a first time for everything.”

“Heh, sure.Go bother the Cainian.”

“She doesn’t like the way I smell,” Kíli said, cryptically. 

“Neither do I, you stinky bastard,” Fíli said, and snorted in laughter.“Do you really want to help me out here?” 

“Where do you keep the medicine?” Kíli asked.

“We don’t get that shipment in until we’ve been rated spaceworthy,” Fíli reminded him. “ _You_ know _that_.”

“Uh, I know,” Kíli said.“I just wanted to know where you kept them.”

“Well, actually, I’m hoping you can get a decent replicator system installed so that I don’t have to keep much supplies like that in stock.Especially with all the aliens we’re going to be working on in here.”

Kíli gave him a curious gaze.“Oh?”

“There are dozens of indigenous species in Limbo, and lots more who’ve moved here.It’s a dream come true for xeno-medicine fanatic like myself.I might finally have the source material to finally write that comparative anatomy paper I’ve been itching to write”

“Uh-huh,”Kíli said, suddenly nervous.“I’m sorry, but I have to go...do the thing...with the stuff...for the guys.”

“All...” Fíli said, as Kíli left, almost sprinted away.“Right. What was that?”

 

 

Joy stumbled through a section of corridor, trying her best to make her way to the bridge, which, considering its forward windows and position at the narrow bow of the ship, was actually more of a cockpit.The section was dark, most likely because the team hadn’t completely replaced bad lighting units in some parts of the ship. 

“Oh great,” She muttered.“Another hour-long light bulb job.Considering how much of a space-case I am.”

It was in there that Joy realized just how dark space really was.No ambient light anywhere, in a sectioned off area of the ship, for several seconds, she could not see anything.It was as if her eyes were stuck in mid-blink.

As she moved, she found her self stepping in some sort of...puddle?It was liquid, but highly viscous, as if to suggest some sort of lubricant or...something organic.She simply wrinkled her nose in the dark, not quite disgusted, but rather annoyed to the fact that there was still more work to do. Her difficulties had soured her slightly to the work, which she hated to admit to.She personally liked a challenge, but the medic craft was looking to be rather beyond her tolerances.

The door opening to the next section of corridor sprang wide, and her eyes had to take a second to readjust.blinking, she stepped out of the darkness, and sighed. she turned around, looking to see whether or not she was tracking whatever it was she stepped in over the completed section.There were no footprints behind her.however when she turned, she heard a bizarre noise coming from the dark section.A viscous, squelching, almost like a liquid growl. 

_What is_ , she thought as she slowly turned around. 

Then she saw it.

 

_What is THAT?_

 

It blinked at her, a strange liquid creature, suspended above the doorway with hundreds of its own amber tendrils, black liquid eyes looking at her for a moment of confusion and curiosity.

Then its expression changed, and Joy no longer felt so safe.Creases formed into deepening, frowning brows, and the growling continued.

Then the creature....changed.

From a blob of nascent blankness, it sprouted fur, a nose and teeth, a monstrous parody of Buffi’s race as the tendrils sprung back and propelled the creature flying at her.She screamed as she tried as best as she could to turn her body around and run down the corridor.

 _Was that the ‘pest’ Adam heard?_ she thought frantically as she ran.she turned another corridor, when she almost collided into another hound-like face.She stifled a scream, quickly enough until she saw that it was, indeed, the real Cainian.

“You!” she managed.

Buffi wasn’t looking at her, and at that moment, Joy was glad.Her face was utter hate and contempt.

She attempted to explain. “Lt. K’gar--”

“Step aside, Ms. Reid,” Buffi interrupted, and walked past her, still not looking at her. 

Joy looked past Buffi and found that the creature had mutated into a strange beast, an amalgam of all of their features, with Buffi’s muzzle, the Dwarves’ beards, Adam’s armor, and glowing hands and eyes that belonged to Josh.

“You,” Buffi began, growling herself to match that of the creature, “I knew I sensed something off on this ship.”She turned to Joy and explained, “A shape-shifter.So,” she turned back to the creature, “What is it?Chemeloid?Allasomorph?”

“...” The creature gurgled, “Mo...Lec..U..Lar...”

Buffi didn’t waste any time.She jumped into the air, her left foot thrust out, her blades on her left hand unsheathed and she cried out a martial, “HY-EEEE!”

But she landed on the ground, not touching the creature one bit. 

Joy saw. The creature formed a hole within itself, like a doughnut, opening up like an camera’s iris, and Buffi fell through on the other side of the creature.Through its opening, His head bowed down and chuckled maliciously at Buffi.As she nursed her bruised legs (and ego), She turned around, murder in her eyes.

“Gotta go now,” MoLecULar said, unpleasantly.It coalesced into a creature comprised of spheres and fluid, and it began to sink into the deckplates“Catch me, girl, if you can.Because I do like to play.” With that, it absorbed itself completely into the deck.

“Well, well, well,” Buffi muttered as she got up, and walked down the corridor.

“Lieutenant!” Joy exclaimed.“...Are you okay?”

“I’ll manage,” Buffi replied.“We have to report this to your brother.”

Joy was slightly confused to Buffi’s self assurance. “Buffi, what was that thing?”

“Weren’t you paying attention?” Buffi said, annoyance in her voice.“He’s one of Mon*Star’s.Which means that our security’s already been compromised.”She turned back to Joy, resignation on her face.“Our mission might be over before it even got started.”

 

 

In a room that was secured, and with olfactory proof from Buffi that all six of them were who they said they were, the team sat around a conference table.Adam bowed his head at hearing the news.He felt slightly foolish because he knew of MoLecUlar’s abilities and did not anticipate being infiltrated so soon.But with his encounters with his team over the last nine days, and the incongruities that his own senses detected, he felt flat-footed. 

“This explains much,” Josh said, standing behind Adam. “You talked to me in the corridor the other day and you _asked_ me how I was _feeling_.”

“Did I?” Adam said, amusement in his voice.

“Well, apparently not,” Josh replied.

 

“And you!HA!”Kíli exploded at his brother.“I told you I never offered to clean up for your messy arse!”

“Ah, well, you still smell, though,” Fíli retorted.

A moment of awkward silence descended upon them, then Joy asked the next logical question.“So what do we do next?”

“We stick together,” Adam replied.“He’s imitated most of us.He could infiltrate our team again on a moment’s notice.”

“Um,” Buffi interrupted, “Call me paranoid, but... how do we know one of us hasn’t already been replaced?”

“You, Buffi,” Adam said.“Your sense of smell seems to be rather acute.Enough to tell one of us from MoLecULar.

“MoLecULar is able to transform himself into most anything.Person, animal, inanimate objects...that’s how your tools kept disappearing, Joy.”

“That’s a relief,” Joy sighed.“Guess that means I’m not a space-case after all.”

“Okay, we’ve established our enemy,” Josh said, impatiently, “Now how do we fight him, Adam?”

Buffi spoke up.“We lure him out...and overwhelm him.”

Josh struck his palms together, and nodded.“Sounds like a plan to me.Ms. K’gar, you’re with--”

“Wait!”Adam admonished.“Weren’t you listening, Josh?Ms. K’gar, we need to seal all rooms we stay in.”

“Aye, sir,” Buffi replied.

“Kíli, we need to get internal sensors up and running, like _yesterday_.”

“You got it, commander,” Kíli said.

Adam turned to his sister.“You, Joy, you’re with him.”

Joy nodded, fear creeping into her voice. “A-all right.”

“Doctor, once internal sensors are up, I need your analysis on our guest.”

“Right away,” Dr. Fíli said.

 

The next day was tense.The fledgling team worked at Adam’s tasks, trying their best not to let doubt enter their thoughts.Joy and Kíli toiled in the control room, with the dwarf crammed into the bottom of one of the consoles making sure that circuits were connected and/or replaced.Outside the secured door, Buffi stood guard, arms folded.

It was late in the day when Adam finally got a bead on MoLecULar’s bio-signature on the ship.“Ah-HaH!” he exclaimed as he patched the comm to sickbay.“Doctor, I’m connecting internal sensors to sickbay.”

In sickbay, Fíli had gotten things to where he could manage to function, in anticipation of his task.He looked at the screen, where the information streamed in.“Receiving bio-readings, Commander.”The Khâzad dwarf looked over the data and began his initial report. 

He didn’t see the dark eyeball on the amber stalk peering at him from the corner.

“It appears to be comprised of a very elastic physiology...morphogenic enzymes and bio-mimetic patterns...”

“FÍLI!” Adam’s voice exclaimed from the speaker.“Now!It’s in your section!” 

Fíli quickly grabbed one of his more unconventional instruments.It was long, had a rather well-weighted handgrip, and very sharp.It was one of his more effective axes, from his former life on Arda.He also grabbed a helmet, also in the Khâzad style, but fabricated by his brother from materials from the Federation.He pulled his lab coat off, revealing a tough, skin-tight outfit that left his scruffy arms bare. “And the Cainian didn’t think a doctor’d need his own action suit,” he muttered, referring to the name of the outfit that he wore.“Onward, Changeling!” he cried.Alas, I cannot promise to do no harm...”

 

 

In a dark corner of the Main ward of the hospital ship, the creature looked upon the dwarf as he suited up, and chuckled inwardly.All too easy, he thought, as he extended a small bit of himself into a lasso-like pseudopod, and he hurled it at the back of Fili’s head.

“Gah!” Fíli gasped, more out of surprise than pain.He turned around, ready to cleave his enemy in two, when he saw...

Himself?

His face, rather, on a latticework of organic webs, attached to the corner, just as Joy had reported.It seems, indeed, he did not need to find the shape-shifter.It had found the Doctor.

“Well, hello, doctor!” the creature said, in his brother’s voice.“I’ve never had anyone take the time to analyze me so thoroughly.”

“It’s my job to analyze new life!” Fíli exclaimed, shaking his axe at MoLecULar.“Unlike you, I observe people in good faith!”

“Fair enough,” the creature said, reverting back to his ambiguous, amber-yellow form.“Is it true, though?”

Fíli cocked his head in confusion.“Is what true?” 

“That you plan on helping the sick here in Limbo...all species?”

Whether or not the doctor understood the opportunity that the creature’s curiosity offered, he didn’t show it.“Of course,” he indignantly replied.“I’m a doctor!I’m supposed to tend to the sick, not fight off a potential patient!”

MoLecULar dripped down to the ground and reformed himself into the shape that Fíli had seen in his file on the mobster.An amber-yelow creature comprised of spheres and tubes, vaguely humanoid.“I don’t know where I come from...Mon*Star discovered me as an infant.I’m his MoLecULar.”

The door opened, and Adam walked into the main ward.“What about you, MoLecULar?” he asked.“What do you want?”

Mo was quiet, as if he had never thought of the question before that time.It was entirely possible, in fact, that Mon*Star had never asked him that question .But when MoLecULar answered, it surprised both Adam and Fíli.It might have surprised Mo himself.

“Order,” he replied.“And justice.”And with that, attaching to the ceiling, he disappeared.

Adam stood there a moment, contemplating the shape-shifter’s answer.He was about to make a comment to Fíli when Buffi interrupted on the comm.

“Captain!Sensors indicate some sort of craft...leaving the ship at high warp. Our uninvited guest?”

“That’s an affirmative, lieutenant.And, hopefully, Ms. K’gar, we gave him a thing or two to think about.”

Fíli sighed and pulled his helm from his head, and placed it back on his desk.He caught his reflection on one of the consoles, and saw that several pale blond cowlicks now stood up from his scalp.He sighed.“Helmet hair...?”

Adam took a look at his doctor, dressed in his action suit.He smirked and remarked, “It looks good on you, doctor.”

“If you like it on me, youngster, wait’ll you see it off me,” Fíli said, mischievously.“Ah...heh, I should behave myself.You’re my commanding officer now.”

“That’s right,” Adam replied.“And, my rank and preferences aside, I know better than to dally around with a casanova like you.Gandalf told me you’re a bit of a legend.”

“Well, whatever, son.Your loss.Besides, we still have a lot of work to do.”

 

 

Another week passed.Without incident, either despite MoLecULar or because of him, MC9 was finally restored.

 

The ship stood before Hawk Haven, ready for inspection.Stargazer prowled the corridors, looking for signs of its former dilapidation.He found none.Kíli walked before him, with the Reids trailing behind.

“Well, I’m pretty satisfied with our final solutions to the engines, Captain, but, that’s no guarantee that we’re not going to have some problems along the road.Trust me from someone who used to work on the docks; we’re ready to go.”

“Not too shabby, Reids.Not too shabby,” Stargazer said, a rare smile on his face.

“High praise,” Adam said to Josh.

“Indeed,” Josh replied.“So, next week, hein?Looks like you’ll need to get ready, Ms. K’gar.”

Buffi, who had walked a step or two behind the Reids, shrugged and said, “Hey, bring ‘em on!”

Stargazer whipped around and snapped at Buffi.“Don’t get cocky, lady!MoLecULar wasn’t the worst Mon*Star could throw at ya.”He shoved a padd in her face and told her, “Here’s your first assignment.”

Buffi looked at it with relish.“Ahh...”

But before she could take the padd, Josh snatched it up.“I’ll take that.”He read the mission summary, and nodded.“The Starship Casino, eh?That’s in Klingon space.The Empire’ll only do so much to help us out, but we don’t really have any legal jurisdiction there.It’s outside the light-year limit.”

“We tried a few times to tow it back into Federation space, but they just kept trucking it back out. It’s dirty with the Mob.”

“I’ll start setting up the undercover scenario,” Adam said.“Buffi...?”

“Right.”Buffi said, knowing what was required of her.“No Mr. Underhill to boss around this time, though.”

“Eh?” Stargazer was slightly annoyed to be out of their conversation.

“Oh, we’ll make do with what we have,” Adam replied. 

 

“I’ll leave it to you,” Stargazer told them.“You have nine days to execute the mission.”

 

“Leave it to us,” Adam said.“We won’t let you down.”

 

 

 


End file.
